While I don't know exactly what your power usage is, using your $170 a month electric bill, and the average electricity cost of 12 cents per kWh, this would mean you were using 1,416 kWh per month. Diesel generators (not including maintenance fees) produce about 10 kWh per gallon of diesel fuel. Current average prices of diesel fuel are $2.60 per gallon. At 1,416 kWh, that works out to 141.6 gallons of diesel fuel, which in turn works out to an "electricity bill" of $368.16 per month for your current household electricity usage. So using national averages, it would be much more expensive to run your home off a diesel generator than with your current electric grid electricity rates. HOWEVER, the kWh rates are different from state to state and country to country. For example, in the U.S.A. the cost of electricity for consumers ranges from 7 cents a kWh in Idaho to 22 cents a kWh in Hawaii. And you could be using a lot less than 1,416 kWh per month if your electricity rates were more than 12 cents a kWh. So with more information, I could make a much more accurate calculation. One thing to keep in mind is that for that 12 cents a kWh rate, the electric company is also paying for maintenance on the equipment used to provide you with power. If you produce all your own power, you are also responsible for maintaining the generator(s), which could increase your personal cost of electricity. Generally speaking, diesel generators are only cost effective when grid power is completely unavailable. As you can see from the above information, at 10kWh per gallon of diesel fuel, and at $2.60 per gallon of diesel fuel, the cost per kWh using a diesel generator remains at about 26 cents a kWh, which is still more even than the energy-expensive state of Hawaii at 22 cents a kWh. The price of diesel is unlikely to go down, and more likely to go up.